I don't even attempt to solo AVs or GMs so I can't help you there. I can say that Bot/FF is a terrific combo. Your bubbles stack with the Prot Bots' bubbles. Very easy to solo, very survivable and once you get both upgrades you get a tremendous amount of AoE. I'm sure others will chime in who can compare AV soloing of both sets, but I mainly wanted to say if you do go Bot/FF you're definitely rolling up a strong combo.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
bot trap is better for soloing AVs, /ff brings basically nothing to the fight in way of debuffs
Bots/FF has modest -regen in the assault bot's blasts. Demons/FF has no inherent -regen. Bots are more ranged attacks, staying away from the foes' more deadly melee attacks. Traps is best againsts AVs for -regen. Dark Miasma has more -regen than the remaining secondaries second only to traps. Thermal and TA have some -regen, but TA has no defense nor resistance buffs for survivability. I know that Time Manipulation has -regen, but I have no experience to tell you where it will stack up against AVs. It will be a fun ride finding out 
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
Well the bots actually get a decent amount of -regen as 2 of the Assault Bot's powers do -500% each.
I guess it depends on how much he uses it.
(Edit: He gets Plasma Blast, on 4 second recharge for 30 seconds of -500% regen, and Dual Plasma Blast, on 25 second recharge for 30 seconds of -500% regen, with the first upgrade power.)
I've played bots/ff before and liked it, but I was wondering if demons may be better. It seems bots wins.
I wish there were more pet options and different cosmetic options, like praetorian clockwork for the robot pets.
Anyway, anybody soloed any AVs/GMs with bots/ff?
I'm not switching the secondary because it's my favorite support set, especially for MMs.
This thread might interest you.
Note:Just read it don't necro post or gm's get cross.
while it is possible to solo GMs with bot/ff, it will take a VERY long time and basically is determined by how much the -regen hits on the bots attacks, the -regen is only a chance of happening and with pet AI wont be 100% reliable
if you really want to solo a GM, just get longbow pets, the boss has basically the same -regen as the bot and it can stack it very very easily since it only has liek 3 attacks compared to the bots 5-6
My favorite Pet set is the robots, so enthusiastic, so obedient, so easy to manage. I plan to team up with time manipulation to see how uber they can get.
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
At the risk of being obtuse, I've never understood the fascination with soloing AVs or GMs. I guess it's just one of those "climb the highest mountain" things? People just do it for bragging rights? It's not like they give good rewards compared to the time spent trying to take them down solo. I just happily have them downgrade to elite bosses and then kick the snot out of them.
Freedom: Blazing Larb, Fiery Fulcrum, Sardan Reborn, Arctic-Frenzy, Wasabi Sam, Mr Smashtastic.
Quote:
I'll give you my reason.|
Originally Posted by Sardan
At the risk of being obtuse, I've never understood the fascination with soloing AVs or GMs. I guess it's just one of those "climb the highest mountain" things? People just do it for bragging rights?
|
If I can solo AVs and GMs, then I can take any 7 people with me on any TF and know we won't run into a problem. They could be the worst batch of players ever to log in and we'll still succeed because if it comes down to it, I'll solo the damn TF.
A few weeks ago my Bots/Traps solo'd the Clockwork King on a LGTF in less time than it took the team to lead Penny to the door. Last night I took out Jurassik in under 7 minutes. Neither of those cases is an excessive amount of time. One was doing its job to speed the TF along. The other was me getting the badge without having to pull a team together on the server's off time. There's more than just reward/time benefits here.
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
Quote:
Actually, I just want to be able to solo AVs/GMs because everything else is easier if you can work at that level.|
Originally Posted by Sardan
At the risk of being obtuse, I've never understood the fascination with soloing AVs or GMs. I guess it's just one of those "climb the highest mountain" things? People just do it for bragging rights? It's not like they give good rewards compared to the time spent trying to take them down solo. I just happily have them downgrade to elite bosses and then kick the snot out of them.
|
Also, it's just fun sometimes to have an epic one on one fight with one of the toughest enemies around and take him down.
The giant monster Eochai actually got me hooked on this game during Halloween of my first month of play ever. I fought him as a dark melee/electric brute or something at level 7 and had so much fun.
Quote:
I wouldn't go so far as to call them the toughest enemies around, but they certainly have the most hitpoints.
|
Originally Posted by T_Immortalus
Also, it's just fun sometimes to have an epic one on one fight with one of the toughest enemies around and take him down.
|
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
Tough: AV.
Tougher: The same number of hit points of Sappers, without an aggro cap.
Quote:
Dark Armor says "lol sappers."
|
Originally Posted by seebs
Tough: AV.
Tougher: The same number of hit points of Sappers, without an aggro cap. |
Where to now?
Check out all my guides and fiction pieces on my blog.
The MFing Warshade | The Last Rule of Tanking | The Got Dam Mastermind
Everything Dark Armor | The Softcap
don'T attempt to read tHis mEssaGe, And believe Me, it is not a codE.
Quote:
As does Insulation Shield(or the other one) from Force Field. :P|
Originally Posted by Dechs Kaison
Dark Armor says "lol sappers."
|
Edit:
Well, it does give recovery debuff resistance as well as endurance drain resistance, last I checked.
Quote:
It certainly does provide protection from end drain. */FF is great against carnies, malta, and Freakshow Superstunners.
|
Originally Posted by T_Immortalus
As does Insulation Shield(or the other one) from Force Field. :P
Edit: Well, it does give recovery debuff resistance as well as endurance drain resistance, last I checked. |
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
Quote:
I wish all the other pets and secondaries were as good as bots and force field together. It would make more options better.|
Originally Posted by Psylenz
It certainly does provide protection from end drain. */FF is great against carnies, malta, and Freakshow Superstunners.
|
I also wish we had more pet options, like angels(definitely, yes please) and ghosts and other things.
Quote:
There are many combos to argue for: Bots/Traps (debuffs better than FF), Necro/Dark and Necro/Storm are very solid. Thugs/Traps, Thugs/Poison (noxious gas on Bruiser is a formidable weapon). I had an SG-mate with Bots/Traps, so I haven't got around to that, but I will say Bots/Dark is also tough as nails.
|
Originally Posted by T_Immortalus
I wish all the other pets and secondaries were as good as bots and force field together. It would make more options better.
I also wish we had more pet options, like angels(definitely, yes please) and ghosts and other things. |
Triumphant Defenders Forever
Psylenz FF/Psi, ArticQuark Storm/Rad, Symon BarSisyphus Bots/psn, Max VanSydow Thugs/Dk, Cyclone Symon Bots/stm, Blue Loki Ice/Cd, Widow 46526
HelinCarnate:OMG it is so terrible. I have the option to take 3 more powers but no additional slots. Boo F'ing hoo.
Quote:
I did try Thugs as my first ever mastermind, and zombies after that, but those pets are so dumb. They were still bugged a lot back when this happened, around issue 8 or so, which is why they were dumb.|
Originally Posted by Psylenz
There are many combos to argue for: Bots/Traps (debuffs better than FF), Necro/Dark and Necro/Storm are very solid. Thugs/Traps, Thugs/Poison (noxious gas on Bruiser is a formidable weapon). I had an SG-mate with Bots/Traps, so I haven't got around to that, but I will say Bots/Dark is also tough as nails.
|
Thugs and Zombies also have rather squishy pets compared to Robots.
I like less...."attention-hogging" secondaries as well. The pets require enough attention that it's a little hard to manage a bunch of clicks that have to be used every group of enemies.
I'll have to see about Time Manipulation since I love the concept and the powers look nice with a nice long duration and long recharge and mostly being ally-centric so they stick with you for multiple battles.
You will not be able to kill a AV with FF. But the upside is they will not be able to kill you. I have tried several times and the best it ends up being is 1/2 way marker before you run out of temp debuffs ( envenom dagger ) to toss at the AV or GM. You just do not have enough potent sustainable debuffs.
The next issue would be I guess that demons offer some decent debuffs. But the problem is FF will not offer them defense cap. Since Demons are a mix of melee and range not being capped for pets will end up with death for your pets from AOE attacks either PB or ranged.
Which brings you to Robots which is nice since the protector bots offer the bubble you need to obtain defense cap all around. Actually you might be a bit short by a few points. I think Cardiac alpha offers the defense buff.
But your back at that point of not having enough debuffs to get AVs past the 1/2 way marker. Again I'm assuming solo.
Only thing I can think of is using Incarnates to help you out. Which in that case Robot FF would be the best bet since you start off capped with them and your just looking for as much debuff as possible. Maybe with incarnate pets as well.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
Quote:
I have killed a couple AVs before with Force Field, with Robots.|
Originally Posted by plainguy
You will not be able to kill a AV with FF. But the upside is they will not be able to kill you. I have tried several times and the best it ends up being is 1/2 way marker before you run out of temp debuffs ( envenom dagger ) to toss at the AV or GM. You just do not have enough potent sustainable debuffs.
|
Are you talking about Demons/Force Field?
AVs aren't exactly that tough always, and GMs are tougher still.
I was just wondering if Demons would be easier and kill more AVs than Robots probably could.
Quote:
The Protector Bots bubbles stack. A bots/ff toon gets pets well beyond the soft-cap after slotting with only SOs. It's one reason I enjoy Force Field so much.|
Originally Posted by plainguy
Which brings you to Robots which is nice since the protector bots offer the bubble you need to obtain defense cap all around. Actually you might be a bit short by a few points. I think Cardiac alpha offers the defense buff.
|
Also, you don't need debuffs to take down an AV. I've done it on my willpower super strength tanker before.
Actually, I easily soloed Mother Mayhem, in the old arc in PI, and almost soloed Babbage(he kept healing back from 5% health to half health slowly for some reason and couldn't finish him off) with only generic level 30 IOs. He was poorly slotted compared to what he could have been.
You just got to put out enough dps and survive the thrashing.
Quote:
You know I was thinking of GM when posting.. I had issues with Scrapyard which did the same as you babbage. I believe its that whole triangle thing of being up and down.. Whats it called again ?|
Originally Posted by T_Immortalus
I have killed a couple AVs before with Force Field, with Robots.
Are you talking about Demons/Force Field? AVs aren't exactly that tough always, and GMs are tougher still. I was just wondering if Demons would be easier and kill more AVs than Robots probably could. |
You will be short I believe a few points in one positional type defense. Again I need to look it up on my other machine.
1. Why Soft Cap is Important : http://dechskaison.blogspot.com/2011...important.html
2. Limits: http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Limits
3. Attack Mechanics: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Attack_Mechanics
4. Rule of Five: http://wiki.cohtitan.com/wiki/Rule_o...e_Law_of_Fives
Quote:
i dont think that GMs have purple triangles, they just have immensly high mez protection
|
Originally Posted by plainguy
You know I was thinking of GM when posting.. I had issues with Scrapyard which did the same as you babbage. I believe its that whole triangle thing of being up and down.. Whats it called again ?
You will be short I believe a few points in one positional type defense. Again I need to look it up on my other machine. |
Quote:
AVs have the triangles, GMs just have high mez protection but I don't think they have the 50 magnitude of the triangles.|
Originally Posted by plainguy
You know I was thinking of GM when posting.. I had issues with Scrapyard which did the same as you babbage. I believe its that whole triangle thing of being up and down.. Whats it called again ?
You will be short I believe a few points in one positional type defense. Again I need to look it up on my other machine. |
Robots/Force Field soft-caps all positional defenses equally. I won't be short defense at all. The only issue may be damage, but robots put out quite a bit of that against normal enemies so maybe they have enough for a GM. Though, I have never attempted to solo a GM yet with a mastermind.
Actually, i take that back.
I did have my pets tanking and soloing Jack In Irons in Talos Island during last year's Halloween event, but I was on a team that had not gotten there yet so I didn't get to see if I actually could solo him the whole way.
He didn't obliterate my pets though, despite them running into melee. :P (dumb pets)
First, I'm looking to make a new mastermind that can solo a lot.
I want to be able to solo AVs/GMs if at all possible, but definitely need to be able to easily solo normal missions and do TFs well(grouped at least).
I'm set on taking Force Field no matter which pet set.
Which is better for soloing AVs/GMs? Robots or Demons?
Which is better for general soloing? Robots or Demons?
Which is better for general teaming? Robots or Demons?
Are there any recommended guides for AV/GM soloing with robots and/or demons?
How good is Demon AI? Is it as good as Robot AI tends to be?
(i.e. they stay where you want them reliably?)
Thanks for the help with this decision.